Friday, June 27, 2014

Snickerdoodle Bread

Loved this bread!  It was fantastic!  I will make this again.


SNICKERDOODLE BREAD
 adapted from barbarabakes

Ingredients
2 1/2 cups flour (high-altitude add 1/4 cup)
1 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
1 tsp. cream of tartar
2.5 tsp. cinnamon
1 cup butter softened
2 cups sugar
3 eggs
1 tsp. vanilla
3/4 cup sour cream (next time I’m going to substitute a bit of cream cheese)
1 pkg. Hershey’s cinnamon chips
Topping:
3 Tbsp sugar
3 tsp. cinnamon
1 TBSP flour
1 TBSP butter

Instructions
Cream the butter and sugar until fluffy. Add the eggs
Add the vanilla and sour cream and mix well.
Mix flour and with the dry ingredients in a separate bowl. Add to wet ingredients and mix until all combined.
Add cinnamon chips and stir into batter.
Spoon batter into mini loaf pans or cupcake tins until about 2/3 full.
Mix 3 T. sugar and 3 t. cinnamon in a bowl and sprinkle over the batter in each loaf pan.
Bake at 350 for 30-40 minutes. Let cool before removing from pan.

Sour Cream Sugar Cookies

I loved these cookies!  They were as good as my mom's recipe to me with less butter.  They tasted great and were fluffy and soft.  I will definitely make these again.


Cut-Out Sour Cream Sugar Cookies
www.theyummylife.com    By Monica              Servings: 5 dozen
Ingredients
  • FOR COOKIE DOUGH:
  • 5-1/2 cups flour
  • 1 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1 cup sour cream, room temperature
  • 1 cup butter, softened
  • 2 cups sugar
  • 2 eggs
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla
  • FOR FROSTING (makes 1 cup of frosting):
  • 2 cups powdered sugar
  • 2 tablespoons butter, softened
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla
  • 3-4 tablespoons canned evaporated milk
  • food coloring (optional)
Directions
MAKE COOKIE DOUGH:
In large bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda, & salt; set aside. In second large bowl, with an electric mixer, cream the sour cream and butter at low speed; add sugar, eggs, and vanilla & mix until combined. (It's okay if it's a little lumpy as long as no butter chunks are visible.) Gradually add the flour mixture to the sour cream mixture, mixing until well combined. Dough will be sticky. (If cookie dough is too thick for your mixture to handle, you can stir it by hand with a wooden spoon.) Divide dough onto two pieces of plastic wrap; flatten dough, wrap tightly, and refrigerate until chilled, 1-2 hours. (Make ahead tip: Dough may be made to this point and refrigerated for up to 3 days or frozen for up to 1 month.)

ROLL, CUT, & BAKE COOKIES:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper; set aside.  Generously flour your counter or work surface to prevent dough from sticking. Rub flour on the rolling pin. Put one of the chilled pieces of dough on top of the floured surface and sprinkle the top of the dough with more flour. Starting at the center, roll the dough out to one edge; return to the center and roll to the opposite edge. Continue rolling until dough is an even 1/4" thick all over, sprinkling with additional flour, if needed, to avoid sticking. Dip cookie cutter in flour and cut out dough shapes. Transfer dough shapes to baking sheets. Continue rolling dough, cutting shapes, and adding to baking sheets until they are filled.  Bake 2 sheets at a time for 8-10 minutes, rotating and switching pans half way through cooking time. Bake them just until they are baked all the way through but haven't started browning on the bottom. If a soft textured cookie is desired, it's very important not to over bake them.  Transfer hot cookies to a baking rack to cool completely.

Make-ahead tip: Cooled, unfrosted cookies may be stacked in a sealed container and stored at room temperature for up to 2 weeks; although the fresher, the better. Freezing them is recommended to maintain their freshness. Unfrosted cookies may be frozen up to a month.

MAKE FROSTING:
Combine powdered sugar, softened butter, vanilla, and half of the evaporated milk in a large bowl. Use an electric mixer to combine ingredients on a low speed until its' a thick paste consistency and all of the lumps are gone. Gradually add remaining milk and continue mixing on medium speed until frosting is a smooth, silky, spreadable consistency. If it's still too thick, add more milk 1/2 teaspoon at a time until it's desired consistency. Mix in food coloring, if desired.

FROST & STORE COOKIES:
Frost each cookie and decorate with sprinkles while frosting is still wet. Leave out to dry for several hours until dry to touch before storing in an airtight container. If stacking frosted cookies, put waxed or parchment paper between layers.

NUTRITIONAL INFORMATION per cookie: 125 calories, 4.5g fat, 70mg sodium, 19.6g carbs, 10.7g sugars, 1.5g protein, 0g fiber; Weight Watchers PointsPlus: 3

Lemon Yogurt Pancakes



These pancakes were light and fluffy and lemony.  This made about 12 large pancakes and my family finished every last one.  No leftovers.  I love that they have a little boost of protein from the Greek yogurt. This recipe has a far amount of sugar for a pancakes, but that is to counteract the tang and tartness from the lemon, yogurt and buttermilk.  You could cut it if you desired.  We loved these pancakes!

LEMON YOGURT PANCAKES

INGREDIENTS:
  • 2 1/2 cups flour
  • 1 TBSP baking powder
  • 1 tsp. baking soda
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 3 eggs, separated
  • 1/3 cup sugar
  • 1 cup plain Greek yogurt
  • 1 1/2 cups buttermilk
  • zest and juice of 1 lemon
  • 1/2 tsp lemon extract
DIRECTIONS:

Whisk together flour, baking powder and soda, and salt.  Separate eggs into two bowls.  Whisk egg yolks with sugar.  Add lemon zest, juice and extract.  Whisk.  Add buttermilk and whisk.  Here is a good point to preheat your griddle. Beat egg whites until they form soft peaks.  Mix buttermilk mixture and dry ingredients, until somewhat smooth.  Fold in half the egg whites, then the other half. Butter griddle and ladle on batter to make pancakes.  Turn when bubbling and underside is golden.  Serve with warm syrup, fresh berries and whipped cream, if desired.

Monday, February 10, 2014

Mango Lassi

A classic Indian dessert drink.   We love it!


Mango Lassi

INGREDIENTS:

  • 1/2 cup plain Greek yogurt
  • 1 Champagne mango or 3/4 cup frozen mango
  • 1/2 cup almond milk
  • 1 packet stevia
  • few cubes of ice

DIRECTIONS:

Poor into blender or smoothie machine and blend.  Thin with almond milk to desired consistency.  

Sunday, January 19, 2014

Chocolate Chip Muffins

CHOCOLATE CHIP MUFFINS

INGREDIENTS:
  • 2 cups all-purpose flour
  • 1/3 cup light-brown sugar, packed
  • 1/2 cup sugar
  • 2 teaspoons baking powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 2/3 cup buttermilk
  • 1/3 cup sour cream or greek yogurt
  • 1/2 cup butter, melted and cooled
  • 2 eggs, lightly beaten
  • 2 teaspoon vanilla
  • 1 (11 1/2 ounce) package milk chocolate chips
  • 1/2 cup walnuts or 1/2 cup pecans, chopped (opt.- I leave out)
  • tubinado sugar for topping

DIRECTIONS:

Preheat oven to 400°F.  Grease twelve muffin cups. In a large bowl, stir together flour, baking powder, and salt. In another bowl, stir together melted butter and sugars.  Add buttermilk, eggs, butter, and vanilla until blended.
Make a well in center of dry ingredients. Add wet mixture and stir just to combine.
Stir in chocolate chips and nuts, if desired.
Spoon batter into prepared muffin cups.  Bake for 15-20 minutes or until a cake tester inserted in center of one muffin comes out clean. Bake 10-12 minutes for mini muffins.
Remove muffin tin to wire rack. Cool for 5 minutes. Remove from tins to finish cooling.
Serve warm or completely cool. These muffins freeze well.